Hamas agrees to release 10 hostages as part of Gaza ceasefire talks

Hamas said that it would publish 10 hostages held in Gaza in order to conclude a cease-fire contract to end 21 months of war in the Palestinian enclave, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led high-level talks to Washington.

As part of his “commitment to success” of the in peace trades, the militant group said in a press release on Wednesday, he would release the captives, although he warned that talks with Israel had been difficult. He did not say when the hostages would be released.

The announcement came when Netanyahu said discussions with President Donald Trump at two meetings in Washington had focused on the release of hostages that remained in Gaza. The latest data from the Netanyahu office published last month said that 50 hostages remained in the enclave, 28 of which were classified as dead.

Netanyahu’s visit occurred just over two weeks after Trump ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israeli air strikes. The president then helped organize a ceasefire after 12 days of fighting.

Netanyahu, in an article on X, added that he had also discussed potential implications – and the possibilities – war with Iran with Trump, which he described as a “great victory”.

Trump said on Wednesday that there was a “very good luck” of a ceasefire agreement concluded between Israel and Hamas, suggesting that a truce could come from this week or next week, but pointed out that nothing was guaranteed.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoes these comments on Thursday, saying that he thought that “we are closer than we have been a certain time” to a cease-fire and that the American envoy Steve Witkoff was optimistic that the local talks would soon take place.

His comments came after the Trump administration decided to impose sanctions on the special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council Francesca Albanese, which was a frank critic of the Israel campaign in Gaza.

Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said in a position on X that Albanese was sanctioned “for his illegitimate and shameful efforts” to cause international action on the criminal court against the United States and “civil servants, companies and Israeli leaders”.

Albanese did not directly approach the sanctions, but wrote in an article on X, “just to be sure, that day more than ever: I stand firmly and convincingly on the side of justice, as I have always done.”

The possibility of a break in the fighting in Gaza comes after months of failed efforts to conclude an agreement.

A previous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas which ended in March brought about two months of calm relating to the enclave and saw 33 hostages released in exchange for thousands of prisoners and Palestinian prisoners.

Since then, Israel has accelerated its military campaign in Gaza, where more than 57,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed since October 7, 2023, according to health officials in the enclave.

Some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 kidnapped in the attacks led by Hamas in Israel that day, marking a major escalation in a conflict of descendants.

While the talks to get another ceasefire continues, Israel continued to hit Gaza from the air and launched the ground assaults in the enclave.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, and a case carried by South Africa before the International Court of Justice accused Israel of genocide in its offensive in Gaza.

The United States and Israel have rejected the accusation.